Abstract: The border area is an important window of China's opening up strategy. Yunnan, as the only province in China bordering the three Southeast Asian countries, has a border of 4,060 km. Whether the two industries of port construction and border tourism are coupled and coordinated is of great importance to the economic and social development of the border area. Therefore, taking eight border states (cities) in Yunnan province as the research object, this paper uses coupling analysis, vector autoregression, spatial autocorrelation and grey correlation degree models to deeply explore the spatio-temporal coupling relationship between port construction and border tourism in Yunnan Province from 2007 to 2023 and its main influencing factors. The study found that the comprehensive development level of port construction and border tourism in Yunnan Province was generally on the rise during the sample period, and the coupling degree, coordination degree and synchronization of the two were improved. However, the level of coupling coordination among the border states (cities) is different, with the higher level in Dehong, Honghe and Xishuangbanna, and the lower level in Nujiang. At the same time, the factors affecting the coordination degree of the two are port facility construction, border tourism market and port outbound tourism scale from high to low. Based on this, it is proposed that we should adapt to local conditions, strengthen port infrastructure construction, improve port clearance efficiency and convenience, make full use of the characteristics of border areas, create unique and diverse border tourism products, and promote the economic integration of border areas.

Key words: port construction, border tourism, coupling analysis, grey relational degree, spatial autocorrelation